A GOP bill, SB634 would preempt local governments from enacting or enforcing ordinances related to various employment matters. … Another bill, AB 729 / SB 613, would create a school district revenue limit adjustment for workforce development improvements to support vocational or technical education. … Act 130 implements in state statutes provisions already included in the federal Every Student Succeeds Act to prohibit aiding and abetting sexual abuse of children/students by school personnel.

The 365 Artists 365 Days Project – created by WEAC Region 3 member Frank Juarez of Sheboygan North High School – highlights contemporary artists from across the globe through an online interview platform. Since its inception in 2014, it has introduced artists on a daily basis via online and social media. To date, the 365 Artists 365 Days Project has featured over 700+ artists working in various media, processes, and studio practices. Juarez has shared the story of his success with the 365 Artists 365 Days Project in a column distributed by the Department of Public Instruction via its ConnectEd newsletter.

On September 30, 2017, funding expired for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). This program has been crucial in providing health care coverage for low-income children who are not covered through job-based coverage but also do not qualify for Medicaid. CHIP has been a tremendously successful bipartisan program since its enactment in 1997. To date, CHIP has reduced the number of uninsured children by nearly 68% to a record low and in collaboration with Medicaid helps to cover nearly 40% of all children in the U.S. Congress must act swiftly to reauthorize CHIP so that nearly 9 million children will not lose their health care coverage.

The Huffington Post examines what some evangelical Christian schools – some largely funded with taxpayer money through vouchers – are teaching. It starts with an interview with a former student who attended multiple evangelical Christian schools where she was taught that to dance was to sin, that gay people were child molesters and that mental illness was a function of satanic influence. Teachers at her schools talked about slavery as black immigration, and instructors called environmentalists “hippie witches” and taught that Islam is a violent religion and evolution has “no real scientific basis.”

The leaders of the Wisconsin State Legislature on Wednesday announced creation of a Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding that does not include any classroom educators. “As educators, we are a steady voice for a solution to Wisconsin’s broken school funding system,” said WEAC President Ron Martin. “It’s alarming that no classroom educators are included on the Commission because teachers and support staff know firsthand how the inadequate and inequitable funding impacts learning every day.”